“De thing w’at worried me mo’n anything else, was how I could git home all dem five long blocks ’dout anybody seein’ me, aft’ I had re’lize I comed away widout no pants on;—slippin’ long de street in de moonlight wid blood all ove’ my und’shirt, runnin’ de risk o’ somebody comin’ up on me an’ takin’ me for a rogue done commit murder, befo’ day in de mawnin’. “I knowed Lethe could take care ’uhself. An’ I knowed she had salt in de house; so I knowed soon she had stop de bleedin’ from de mouth, she be out o’ danger. “So w’en I reached home an’ got in bed, I sho did wrassel wid my soul, an’ prayed hard to fall asleep. But Gawd mus’ bin vex wid me.... ’E helt de sleep back from me; an’ I ain’ had a single wink o’ sleep de whole night long. “I tried to pray, but my min’ was upset wid all kind o’ confusion.... I ain’ never notice befo’ how cows an’ creeters an’ things could be such plumb nuisance in de night-time. Look like I could hyeah evvy rooster in evvybody hen-house, crowin’ an’ ’nouncin’ de crackin’ o’ day all over Gritny. An’ w’en de win’ blowed pass de house, I could heayh de a-ko like a mul’tude o’ dogs barkin’ an’ callin’ at one-’nother, miles futher away.... An’ between dat hog Ma Fanny got yonder in de yard, gruntin’ an’ goin’ on; an’ Miss Barb’ra cows nex’-do, keepin’ up such a mooin’ an’ a moanin’; it look like evvything was talkin’ ’bout some kin’ o’ tribulation an’ on-res’ful cundition.... “Even de mawkin-bird singin’ in de umbrella tree ’ginse de fence, ’is voice so loud an’ screechy, it soun’ like he findin’ fault wid de moon for shinin’ so bright. An’ I couldn’ help wishin’ de night air make ’im ketch de so’ th’oat; den I know he had to keep still. “I say to myself: Dis ain’ doin’ no good; lay’n hyuh frettin’, an’ big day already come.... Lemme git up an’ dress an’ go walk out-do’as in de fresh air. “So dah whah I put on my clo’se an’ went ’roun to Lethe house to see’f I could patch up de diffunce w’at comed up between us. “I knocked on de do’ easy, but she ain’ answer. I knocked agin a li’l louder, an’ call to ’uh, an’ she still ain’ answer.... I say: Maybe she gone up de street to de doctor. I say: Lemme walk ’roun a li’l piece, an’ I come back later an’ maybe she be hyuh. “So dah whah I went up de railroad track fur as de Chinee-men’s garden; an’ I watched ’um hoein’ an’ plantin’ till almos’ a whole hour had pass; den I start back. I walked slow, an’ picked a bunch o’ tetch-me-nots to bring to Lethe; growin’ so plennyful ’long-side de track, wid de night-jew on ’um, an’ lookin’ so pink an’ nice an’ sweet-smellin’.